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NEWARK, Ohio — A former Licking County police officer faces up to 20 years in prison after he
was convicted yesterday of carrying on a lengthy sexual relationship with his live-in girlfriend’s
young daughter.

George B. Gibson, 43, of Heath, entered Alford pleas in Licking County Common Pleas Court to
four counts of felony sexual battery. Gibson didn’t admit guilt but conceded that there was enough
evidence against him to convict him at trial. He’ll be sentenced at a later date.

Gibson, who served as an officer in both the Hebron and Union Township police departments,
caught the attention of authorities when county child-support officials began working on a case
between him and a 26-year-old woman last year.

The couple had three children together. The eldest was 10. The arithmetic wasn’t complicated,
said Licking County Prosecutor Ken Oswalt. The girl would have been 15 when she got pregnant.
Gibson initially was accused of beginning a sexual relationship with the girl when she was just 8.
He denied that, but he did admit to having sex with her after she was 16, Oswalt said. In the state
of Ohio, it is illegal for a parent, stepparent or guardian to have sex with his or her child,
regardless of age. Oswalt argued that Gibson served as her parental figure.

Oswalt said Gibson’s victim agreed to the plea, though she was prepared to testify against him.
The two apparently lived together as a couple until last year.

“She would have preferred not to have to testify,” Oswalt said.

Gibson, who worked for Hebron in the mid-’90s and then went to Union Township until 2000, will
be required to register as a sex offender and won’t be able to work as a police officer again,
Oswalt said. His certification had expired in 2006.